In a hospital, doctor's office or home environment setting, soiled syringes or other medical implements are commonly deposited in a disposal container following their use. Unused, sterile syringes or other medical implements are commonly obtained from a source separate from the disposal container. It is somewhat inconvenient at times, however, to provide a source of unused, sterile medical implements and a separate container for collecting the soiled medical implements following their use. In other words, it is sometimes disadvantageous from a convenience standpoint for medical practitioners to have one location from which implements are obtained and a separate location in which implements are disposed of.
Attempts have been made to overcome this inconvenience. For example, improved syringe dispensing and collecting systems for personal use are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,394, which illustrates a syringe dispensing and collecting system comprising a cylindrical container having a sterile hypodermic needle storage chamber and a separate soiled hypodermic needle collection chamber. The storage chamber is maintained in an outer peripheral region of the cylindrical container and the collection chamber is maintained in a central region of the cylindrical container. The storage chamber and the collection chamber are separated by an inner cylindrical wall. A telescoping cover mounted to the top of the container defines an opening configured to accept a soiled hypodermic needle. An outer wall of the container provides an outlet opening for the passage of sterile hypodermic needles from the storage chamber.
Nevertheless, there continues to be a need to further develop and improve disposal and collection devices for medical implements.